The National Space Society (NSS) mourns the passing of former
Gemini, Apollo, and Skylab astronaut Charles "Pete" Conrad, Jr. who
was killed in a motorcycle accident early this morning.

"Pete Conrad was a strong advocate for commercial space, and
devoted his years since leaving NASA to helping the average citizen
get into space," commented NSS Executive Director Pat Dasch.
"Conrad's role in the DC-X Single Stage Rocket Technology
Demonstrator program was little known outside the space community,
but was of tremendous importance in helping advance the cause of
affordable space transportation. Pete flew four times into space,
and wanted to make it possible for the average citizen to go as
well. All who will one day fly as space tourists will owe him a
great debt," Dasch added.

Conrad was a McDonnell Douglas engineer and flight controller
during the DC-X test flights in 1993, 1994, and 1995. The test
craft was the first rocket that hovered inside earth's atmosphere
and helped establish research data on new designs for reusable
space launchers. Such launchers may one day routinely fly
passengers and cargo into space. The NSS supported Conrad's rocket
project and the continued development of experimental rocket
technology craft. "He will be missed by all who believe in a
spacefaring civilization," Dasch added.

The National Space Society, founded in 1974, is an
independent non-profit space advocacy organization headquartered in
Washington, DC. Its 20,000 members worldwide actively promote a
spacefaring civilization. Information on NSS and space exploration
is available at http://www.nss.org/.